Legislation

In a move that may reinvigorate discussion about the separation between commercial and investment banking, Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) and 25 of her Democratic colleagues recently introduced legislation to reinstate and expand provisions of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933.

The bill proposes to restrict affiliations between commercial and investment banks, in a manner described in the Banking Act of 1933. It also would make technical and conforming revisions to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which repealed key provisions of Glass-Steagall in 1999.

Find out more details about the legislation.

Credit unions have thrown support behind bipartisan legislation that would exempt loans made to veterans from counting against credit union’s member business lending (MBL) cap.  

The Veterans Member Business Loan Act would exclude extensions of credit made to veterans from the definition of a member business loan. The legislation was introduced by Reps. Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas), Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), Paul Cook (R-Calif.) and Don Young (R-Ark.).

Learn more information about the newly proposed legislation.

Amid the buzz about community banks partnering with fintech startups and myriad discussions about how the industry should approach new innovations and regulatory changes, Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey sat down with Dodd Frank Update at ICBA Live 2019 to explain in her own words what the organization has in the works.

Romero Rainey spoke to the expansiveness of ICBA’s Focus 2020 policy platform, as well as her organization’s push for community banks and fintechs to become partners.

Find out more details about what was discussed during the interview.

Although the past year-and-a-half have seen several changes to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s policies and practices that have resonated positively with lenders and financial institutions of all business models, trade advocates still see room for improvement.

The Mortgage Bankers Association and the Consumer Bankers Association recently spelled out in writing a slew of recommended changes to the bureau’s rulemaking, enforcement and supervisory policies and practices.

Find out more details about what the banking industry’s largest trade organizations are recommending.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently proposed to amend a pair of rules promulgated under the Gramm-Leach Bliley Act (GLBA) that would bring broad new requirements for financial institutions to protect the privacy and security of the customer information they hold. Both proposals are intended to align the FTC’s interpretations of the rules with those of other agencies.

In separate notices of proposed rulemaking, the FTC is seeking comments on proposed changes to enhance the effectiveness of the federal Safeguards Rule and the Privacy Rule, both of which implement portions of the GLBA.

Find out more details about the proposed amendments and what feedback the FTC is seeking.

In her first statutorily required appearance before Congress as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Kathy Kraninger was asked to address the bureau’s plans pertaining to its enforcement of fair lending laws, its stance on ongoing litigation against companies, restitution for harmed consumers and its rules regulating payday lenders and overdraft services.

Questions from Democrats were reminiscent of previous challenges to Kraninger’s commitment to the bureau’s mission, and many pertained to changes enacted under former acting director Mick Mulvaney. Republicans decried Democrats for “badgering” Kraninger and defended her and Mulvaney. 

Find out more details about her testimony.

Financial trade advocates wrote to House officials opposing legislation that would impose a 5 percent tax on cross-border remittances to fund the completion of President Donald Trump’s proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexican border.

H.R. 85, known as the “Fund and Complete the Border Wall Act,” was introduced by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) with support from 10 Republican co-sponsors.

Read on to find out why the trades are against the proposal.

The midterm election results for North Carolina’s 9th District have become the center of controversy and speculation, exacerbated by a freshly passed state election law that has thrown in an added twist.

In December, as the election results were in dispute, North Carolina passed a law stipulating that in the event of such a special election, either party would have the opportunity to hold a new primary.

Find out more details about the situation.

Cannabis-based businesses have cropped up throughout states where recreational marijuana is legal but the fact that it remains illegal at the federal level poses certain risks for the financial institutions that service them.

Bank and credit union representatives recently testified before the House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions in support of a measure proposing protections from those risks.

Find out more details about what the industry advocates had to say.

President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), Mark Calabria, faced questions about his views on reforming the secondary mortgage market to increase competition and the necessary regulatory certainty to continue to guarantee 30-year mortgages and affordable housing goals, among other things, during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee.

Several Democrats pressed Calabria on views he expressed in past blog posts and other writings in which he was critical of the FHFA and its model for overseeing the government-sponsored enterprises.

Find out more details about what was addressed during his testimony.